Brand design for a business I started with my buddy Zak in 2015—a direct-to-consumer loose-leaf tea shop.
One of the images we used for the store's hero slider
Identity design
Designing for yourself is often times the most fun. That's how I feel about the Sleeveless Tea logo. I wanted to combine the elements of class and refinement associated with traditional UK tea brands with something more playful that better matches the name, "Sleeveless Tea".
With a plan to focus marketing on North American males ages 25-50, my goal was for the brand to feel familiar and approachable to them.
To achieve these things, I tried to create something that was not just male-centric, but also something that is reminiscient of a certain globally recognized company that happens to sell a very competitive product.
The original sketch for the Sleeveless Tea logo
Low res version of identity
Final version of identity with integrated brand name
Social Media
We wanted to make quality tea more accessible and approachable. That meant not overwhelming our customers with nuanced variations with ambiguous names. Intead, we chose to curate a small selection of 4 teas—green, black, oolong, and tisane (a fancy name for herbal tea)
In the end, we decided to shelf the project in order to focus on other work and relationships. It was a little shortlived but I am grateful for the experience & learnings it provided.
Some lessons include:
Building is hard. Building and also marketing is very hard. Build your market first.
Businesses need money to fund growth—whether it's upfront or earned over time. One is easier and faster.